POOLS of mist drift serenely beneath a golden sunrise on a day that saw most of Britain basking in brilliant sunshine.

This view – near Evercreech, in Somerset, yesterday – marked a new dawn that saw the mercury climb above that in parts of Australia and Brazil.

Temperatures hit 68F (20C) in Writtle, Essex, which was hotter than Sydney’s Bondi Beach where it was 64F.

Indian summer is expected to continue into today and tomorrow

It was also colder in rainy Sao Paulo, which managed to record just 63F.

The good news is the Indian summer is expected to continue into today and tomorrow. But the Met Office warned that cooler temperatures are expected to return by the middle of this week, matching the averages for October.